Entertainment
Meet Fuerza Regida, the hardest-working act in música Mexicana
What a difference two years can make.
In March 2022, Fuerza Regida embarked on a guerilla marketing campaign to promote an upcoming show at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif. The San Bernardino-based quintet had already reached the top of Billboard’s U.S. Regional Mexican chart twice with 2019’s “Del Barrio Hasta Aqui” and 2020’s “Adicto,” two albums full of corridos tumbados, or trap corridos, which blend elements of traditional Mexican music— requinto guitars and a brass rhythm section— with hip-hop-like lyrics in Spanish about trapping, drug dealing and hustling. Despite the success, there were still plenty of unsold tickets left. Equipped with a megaphone, the band members’ instruments, a camera crew and a desire to see every seat filled for what would be a hometown concert, Fuerza Regida showed up unannounced at nearby Arroyo Valley and San Bernardino high schools and performed a quick set for students before moving on to the Ontario Mills mall, where it regaled unsuspecting shoppers.
But what created the biggest buzz from this traveling road show was the band’s final impromptu performance, which took place in the middle of the westbound 10 Freeway, right in front of the Toyota Arena. In a video clip posted to Fuerza Regida frontman Jesús Ortiz Paz’s TikTok account, we see the band’s caravan of vehicles block all five lanes as it plays a banda rendition of “El Muchacho Alegre,” a song popularized by legendary mariachi singer Pedro Infante. The stunt went viral, accruing millions of views and thousands of comments, many of them admonishing Fuerza Regida for bringing traffic to a standstill while others praised the members for their ingenuity.
By the day of the concert, every ticket had been sold.
“Back then, we would have to pull up [to a city] early to promote because we weren’t selling out like that. Thank God we don’t have to do that anymore,” Ortiz Paz, better known as J.O.P., says in between taking bites of baby carrots and hummus.
It’s a mid-July afternoon and I’m sitting with the 27-year-old singer and his entourage of at least a dozen people at a fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Culver City, an hourlong pit stop in a day crammed with interviews to promote “Pero No Te Enamores,” Fuerza Regida’s eighth studio album (released July 25 on Rancho Humilde Records and Street Mob Records). Before speaking with The Times, J.O.P. joined Apple Music DJ Zane Lowe to record an episode of the streamer’s “New Music Daily” radio show. After lunch, it was off to Burbank to be interviewed by DJ Bootleg Kev for his syndicated hip-hop program. In a few days, J.O.P. and the rest of the band — requinto guitarist Samuel Jaimez, guitarron player Khrystian Ramos, tubist José Garcia and tololoche player Moises Lopez — would fly out to Dallas to resume a nationwide arena tour that has sold out most dates and will culminate with two shows at Inglewood’s Intuit Dome in mid-November.
Fuerza Regida’s requinto guitarist Samuel Jaimez, from left, guitarron player Khrystian Ramos, lead singer Jesus Ortiz Paz, tubist José Garcia and tololoche player Moises Lopez.
(Courtesy of Fuerza Regida)
“We’re doing just English media today. We’ve never really done anything with that market before,” J.O.P. says with a hint of satisfaction noticeable in his voice.
That the English-language music press has taken an interest in covering the release of “Pero No Te Enamores,” an album recorded in Spanish, is a testament to the rising popularity of música Mexicana in the U.S. and Fuerza Regida’s role in its growth. Once considered niche, it has been pushed into the mainstream on the heels of the pandemic by a bevy of acts who built their audiences on YouTube and TikTok before conquering the streaming services; according to entertainment data analysis company Luminate, Latin music was the fastest-growing genre in the U.S. on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music during the first half of 2024 thanks in large part to música Mexicana. The subgenre is hardly a cultural import. Many of its young stars and their ever-growing fan bases are based on this side of the border.
“I feel like people in the U.S. identify themselves with Fuerza Regida,” J.O.P. says. “All the no sabos, all the pochos, they know our culture is a different culture being born over here [rather] than over there.”
Música Mexicana’s dominance is most apparent in Southern California, home to the country’s largest Mexican American population. As of this writing, 14 of the 25 songs listed on Apple Music’s daily trending chart for Los Angeles belong to the genre, sharing space with the likes of pop “it” girl Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar’s epic diss track “Not Like Us.” Of these, six are Fuerza Regida songs.
The band got its start in 2015 by playing covers at parties and local venues in San Bernardino, and the rollicking good times haven’t stopped since —its concerts are notoriously boozy, boisterous affairs. Fuerza Regida’s specialty is making earworms meant to be played loudly, whether it be “Radicamos en South Central,” its first hit, a corrido tumbado from 2018 about building a drug empire brick by brick; “Bebe Dame,” a romantic cumbia recorded with Tex-Mex act Grupo Frontera in 2022; or “Tu Name,” a scornful rebuff released earlier this year about moving on and forgetting someone by sleeping with other women.
Besides its ability to make infectious party anthems, Fuerza Regida’s success can be attributed to its prolificness. Over the last two years, the group has released four albums and one EP, all of which cracked the Billboard 200 top albums chart for all genres. When not recording, Fuerza Regida has been on the road, playing close to 100 shows over the same period.
“I was a businessman before I was an artist,” says J.O.P., who oversees the creative direction of Fuerza Regida, of his entrepreneurial approach to the music industry as the diamond-encrusted logo of Street Mob Records dangles from his neck. Not content with just being a musician, he founded the independent music label in 2019. Since then, he’s signed Calle 24 and Chino Pacas, two of the most promising artists in música Mexicana.
“My dad works in construction and he likes what he does. He’s been doing it for 35 years. He doesn’t have to work anymore but he still goes in because he enjoys it. I’m the same way. I go to the office, put in 14-hour days, go home and I’m happy,” he added.
“Pero No Te Enamores” is Fuerza Regida’s most ambitious project to date, one that puts the pliancy of musica Méxicana to the test. Throughout its history, Mexican music has borrowed from and incorporated other genres into its fold — the accordion, a staple of conjunto and norteño, was first introduced to the country in the late 19th century from Czech and German immigrants through polkas; cumbia arrived from Colombia in the 1940s. With its latest, Fuerza Regida is adding electronic dance music into the mix.
“Jersey corridos, make sure you put that in there, “ J.O.P. says, giving a name to the fusion of Jersey club, drill, house music and corridos found in the album.
Fuerza Regida first dipped its toes in the EDM waters last year with “Harley Quinn,” an uptempo collaboration with DJ Marshmello that’s heavy on the horns — the single, off of “Pa’ Las Baby’s y Belikeada,” peaked at No. 40 on Billboard’s Hot 100. With “Pero No Te Enamores,” the band dives headfirst from the deep end of the pool. To make the 15-track record, Fuerza Regida enlisted producers Gordo (who worked on Drake’s 2022 album “Honestly, Never Mind”) and Synthetic (he produced Lil Uzi Vert’s 2023 single “Just Wanna Rock”), and collaborated with EDM heavy hitters DJ Afrojack and Major Lazer.
The hybrid sound of Jersey corridos is most apparent in tracks like “Bella” and “Secreto Victoria,” which seamlessly blend guitar instrumentations with catchy dance beats. In some cases, Fuerza Regida abandons the música Mexicana sound altogether — “Nel,” the album’s lead single, is closer to reggaeton.
“The album is all summer vibes, very EDM, but it doesn’t lose the lingo of Fuerza — the album is all Fuerza’d out,” J.O.P. says. Lyrically, “Pero No Te Enamores,” which translates to “but don’t fall in love,” comes from the perspective of someone who’s having too much fun being rich, famous and single — a recurring theme in the band’s extensive body of work.
If fans were upset about the experimental turn taken with the record, that dissatisfaction was not reflected on the charts. Within 24 hours after its release, “Pero No Te Enamores” jumped to the No. 1 spot on Apple Music’s all genres list. The following week, it debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard 200.
Despite the success of the record, J.O.P. says the band is not done with corridos.
“I love Jersey club, so when we decided to make a dance album, we knew it was going to be this. I don’t want to make different types of music throughout my career. I wanted to do this album and then go back to my original stuff,” he said, hinting that the next album was already in the works.
Nor is J.O.P. done with taking a do-it-yourself approach to promoting Fuerza Regida’s music. On the day of the release of “Pero No Te Enamores,” the frontman and his crew hosted two free listening parties in the Los Angeles area. The first was an afternoon flash pop-up at a beachside mansion in Santa Monica where hundreds of people showed up after the location was posted on the band’s Instagram account. Later that night, the party moved over to Boyle Heights nightclub Don Quixote for an event sponsored by Spotify that included free drinks and tote bags with the album’s logo — a crossed-out heart— screenprinted on the spot. These functions, J.O.P. says, are a way to thank their core fan base.
“We like to do something for the people that can’t really afford a ticket to our shows. We have to do our shows, that’s how we make our money and live, but we always want to do something for the fans,” he tells me during a brief follow-up interview an hour after the Boyle Heights party ended. It’s late at night and we are standing in the driveway of the Mulholland Drive mansion he rented to rest up after bouncing around the city all day.
“I’m tired but in a good way, We love it. I can’t see myself doing something else,” he says before thanking me for my time and heading back inside. The following day, he and the band would fly out to Atlanta to continue the tour.
Kathy Hilton will no longer be the grand marshal of West Hollywood’s pride parade.
The city and WeHo Pride on Wednesday released a joint statement, announcing that “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star would no longer serve as the Grand Marshal Icon for the 2026 WeHo Pride Parade. The event is scheduled for Sunday.
“After thoughtful discussions, the City of West Hollywood, the WeHo Pride production team, and Kathy Hilton have determined that the 2026 WeHo Pride Parade will not designate a Grand Marshal Icon honoree,” read the statement.
The decision comes less than a week after Hilton was announced. That May 28 announcement was met with swift backlash from the LGBTQ+ community and allies, who called out Hilton’s ties to President Trump and alleged MAGA-leaning politics. Critics also cited accusations that the socialite had used a homophobic slur while on a trip with other cast members of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” an action she has previously denied.
In their joint statement, West Hollywood and the WeHo Pride team expressed their appreciation for “the respectful and sincere dialogue” around both the event and the “role and significance” of Pride honorees.
“The City of West Hollywood has always believed that Pride belongs to the community,” the joint statement said. “Since its earliest days, Pride has served as both a celebration and a platform for activism, visibility, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of equality, dignity, and justice for LGBTQ+ people. … These conversations reflect the passion people have for WeHo Pride and underscore the importance of ensuring that WeHo Pride continues to honor the history, values, and diverse voices of the LGBTQ+ community.”
In a statement, Hilton expressed gratitude for being considered for grand marshal and reaffirmed her commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and causes.
“My reason for wanting to be involved in this year’s WeHo Pride weekend was simple: to celebrate, support, and share in the joy of a community that means a great deal to so many people,” Hilton said. “Pride is, and always will be, about celebrating and uplifting LGBTQ+ voices, experiences, and achievements. … My support for the community and WeHo Pride is unwavering.”
She also mentioned several queer advocacy organizations and events she has supported over the years, including GLAAD, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Dr. Mathilde Krim, God’s Love We Deliver and Project Angel Food.
The latest Pride-related dust-up follows the abrupt cancellation of the Long Beach Pride Festival in May. The city’s Pride Parade took place as planned.
Both snafus have occurred as conservative politicians and advocates continue to attack LGBTQ+ rights and visibility nationwide. Some Republican governors have even pushed for conservative alternatives to Pride month festivities. A recent Gallup poll has found that after years of steady gains, support for marriage equality and same-sex relationships has slipped, particularly among Republicans.
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: Travolta’s “Propeller: One-Way Night Coach” is One for the Ages — All Ages
Back in the good ol’days — the ’90s — John Travolta would love to get off the topic of “Michael,” “Pulp Fiction” or “Get Shorty” in interviews with film journalists like me and regale us with how utterly besotted he had been with his first flying experience, how that drove his passion for piloting and buying planes and airfield-adjacent luxury houses.
He didn’t even seem to mind having to move house when this or that development balked at him flying his Boeing 707 out of there on the way to locations.
Travolta would tell any journalist who asked that he was writing a kid-friendly book, “Propeller: One Way Night Coach,” based on his first flights as a child in old propeller driven airliners — cheap red-eye overnight treks with too many connections for your average jet age traveller to tolerate.
I remember picking up the book when it came out later in the ’90s — at an airport gift shop — and thinking “Well, that’s as cute as I figured.”
And now, decades later and trapped in the B-movie hell of his post “Gotti” career, Travolta’s turned that cute book into the most delightful, fanciful and colorful bon bon of a movie.
“One Way Night Coach” is a child’s fantasy of flight and flying the way it used to be — with pristine, uncrowded, futuristic airports, an early ’60s era of jets and prop planes with over-uniformed stewardesses in white gloves, the days “Back before every Joe Sweatsock could wedge himself behind a lunch tray and jet off to Raleigh-Durham,” as Sideshow Bob memorably sneered on “The Simpsons’.”
It’s a fictionalized account of Travolta’s childhood about an only child (at least two Travolta siblings have bit parts in this movie) of a never-made-it/never-will actress/single-mom (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett) who indulges her aviation-obsessed eight-year-old with a cheap cross-country overnight flight.
Little Jeff (Clark Shotwell) will revel in almost every Idlewild to Pittsburgh to Dayton to Chicago to Kansas City to Denver and Los Angeles minute. He strolls into the cockpit to meet pilots, charms the stewardesses and checks out the sleeping bunks on the TWA Lockheed Super Constellation, loving even the delays if not the Chicken Cordon Bleu he’s offered on legs of the journey that offer a meal.
And as he’s an observant child, he comments (Travolta narrates) on his 50ish mother’s vamping and posing, her choice of cigarettes (Newports) and drinks, the solo traveling men whose attention she pursues and earns.
“I was her best audience,” adult Jeff remembers of the mother who’d read him plays as bedtime stories and delusionally hopes that this trip to Los Angeles might be her “big break” even though she’s pushing 50.
“Hollywood called,” she’d explain about their overnight cheap flight arrangements to ticket agents and crew. “They told me to take the next flight!”
At every turn, Jeff meets or sees kindness — stewardesses who indulge his many questions and bump them up to first class on the mostly-empty planes, a captain who fixes his toy model of a Constellation, a mentally ill flyer who flips out but is calmed by a flight attendant who isn’t overworked and frazzled in jet-powered tin-can jammed with Joe and Jane Sweatsocks who think nothing of traveling in their pajamas.
Normally, I cringe at pictures this reliant on voice-over narration. I recoil from stars who populate their picture with Sandler etc. offspring. But “Propeller” is unfailingly sweet and never cloying.
Sure, it’s fictionalized. But if you’ve followed Travolta’s life and career, a lot of him is in this — his raptoruous engagement with flying, an indulged child who developed a taste for fine food and creature comforts, a mother who was his guiding star as an actor.
I get why there are less adoring reviews than mine floating around “Propeller.” It’s unfailingly sweet. Mom’s man-hunting is seriously dated. This TWA tale is decorated with Gershwin’s majestic “Rhapsody in Blue” — United Airlines’ signature tune. And Travolta’s been around long enough for recent generations to come up and not feel a connection to the “Saturday Night Fever/Get Shorty” star whose career has fallen off and life has been visited by too much tragedy.
But I’d hate to be seated next to anybody who doesn’t appreciate this adorable, pristine and nearly perfect aviation fantasy on any flight, much less an overnight one.
Rating: TV-PG
Cast: Clark Shotwell, Kelly Eviston-Quinnett, Ellen Travolta, Ella Beau Travolta, Olga Hoffmann and John Travolta.
Credits: Scripted and directed by John Travolta, based on his book. An Apple TV+ release.
Running time: 1:01
Three years ago, Mattel Inc. struck box-office gold — or rather, pink — with the billion-dollar success of “Barbie.”
In its first return to theaters since the female-forward phenomenon, the El Segundo toymaker is turning to the brawny He-Man for another box-office lift.
Its latest film, “Masters of the Universe,” opens this weekend, as Mattel looks to build on that previous success and continue extending its signature toy brands into the entertainment arena.
“The movie is very much in tune with culture,” said Mattel Chief Executive Ynon Kreiz. “Everything is much more contemporary relative to what was created more than 40 years ago, but it’s still very true to the origin story and to the DNA of the brand.”
The new film arrives at a pivotal time for Mattel, which is facing pressure from investors to grow its business. The maker of Hot Wheels, American Girl and Uno has recently confronted a challenging market for toys, beset by tariffs on goods produced overseas and weaker-than-expected demand for Barbie dolls and Fisher-Price preschool products.
Amid uncertainty in the toy market and the fallout from tariffs, Mattel’s net income dropped 25% to $398 million in 2025. And since the company announced disappointing holiday sales totals in February, its stock has dropped more than 30%, closing at $14.34 on Wednesday.
“Masters of the Universe” toys at Mattel headquarters in El Segundo.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The share price slide prompted investor Southeastern Asset Management to send a letter last month to Mattel leadership suggesting the toy maker should sell itself and go private. Southeastern manages about 4% of the company’s stock on behalf of its clients.
“The frustration among investors has been the fact that if you look at the business from 2021 through 2025 and even this year … the business really hasn’t grown,” said Eric Handler, a Roth Capital senior media and entertainment analyst, referring to Mattel. “This is a company that needed something fresh in the portfolio, and there’s a wide range of investments being made, of which ‘Masters of the Universe’ is one part.”
Kreiz pushed back on the idea that the company is not growing. In the fourth quarter of 2025, net sales were up 7% to $1.8 billion, though the result was not as strong as the company expected.
Mattel has spent $1.2 billion in the last three years to buy back shares, with an additional $1.5-billion share repurchase planned for the next three years.
“We’re investing in our own stock because we believe it is undervalued,” he told The Times in an interview at his office, which has floor-to-ceiling windows that give an expansive view of El Segundo. “We absolutely agree that the share price doesn’t reflect the progress that we’ve achieved over the last few years financially, operationally, our place in culture, the strength of our brands, and the continued expansion of the business. And more importantly, the potential that we have down the road.”
“Masters of the Universe” is a key variable in that equation.
Ynon Kreiz, chief executive of Mattel.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The movie, which had a budget of roughly $170 million, is expected to bring in $25 million to $35 million in the U.S. and Canada during its debut weekend. That’s a far cry from the $162-million opening haul of “Barbie,” but box-office analysts say that film captured the cultural zeitgeist in a way that’s hard to replicate.
The ‘80s-era “Masters of the Universe” is “a property that was famous with a certain group of fans, but it hasn’t had much of a pop culture presence,” said Shawn Robbins, who directs movie analytics at Fandango and founded the forecasting site Box Office Theory. The movie has notched a respectable 74% approval rating from critics on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
“There’s been so many callbacks to nostalgic franchises,” he said. “Some people are always on board for them, and maybe the positive reviews bring people in who were on the fence. But people are also ready for something fresh and new and exciting.”
Kreiz said he’s often asked how the company will match the success of “Barbie.”
“The answer is, we don’t need to match ‘Barbie’s’ success for movies to have a meaningful economic impact on the company,” he said. “Not every movie will be ‘Barbie.’ If we create quality content that people want to watch and create quality experiences that people are engaged with, good things happen, and these brands will resonate and will be here for years to come.”
While theatrical revenue is important, the measure of success for “Masters of the Universe” could also include its eventual reception on streaming platforms and, of course, toy sales, analysts said.
There are hundreds of products tied to the movie, from collectible action figures of Nicholas Galitzine’s He-Man and Camila Mendes’ Teela, to branded Uno decks, Legos, clothing and skateboards.
Skeletor from “Masters of the Universe.”
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
“For us, it’s a huge win already,” said Robbie Brenner, president of Mattel Studios and chief content officer, who also served as a producer on the film. “We have reinvigorated and relaunched this brand that has been around for decades … and done it in a way with just the best-in-class toys. Obviously that’s our bread and butter. And then to have made an epic, incredible movie … is a huge win.”
While Mattel does not yet have sales totals for its “Masters of the Universe” toys, executives said during an earnings call in late April that product sales were “growing double digits” amid strong customer demand, particularly from adults.
When Kreiz was named CEO in 2018, he saw the potential for Mattel to expand beyond toys. In an entertainment landscape dominated by known franchises and intellectual property, the former TV and media executive wanted to leverage the company’s IP in new ways to attract consumers.
Hence, Mattel has expanded into real-world experiences such as a Barbie pop-up at Coachella or a traveling Hot Wheels monster truck show. In February, the company fully acquired Mattel163 mobile game studio after buying out a stake held by Chinese tech firm NetEase. The studio has released games based on Uno, Skip-Bo and other Mattel intellectual property.
And on the film and television front, the Mattel Studios division now has 51 people — most of whom are based in El Segundo — focused on projects across platforms.
After “Masters of the Universe,” Mattel Studios plans to release a “Matchbox” streaming movie in October. The division has more than a dozen films in development that have been announced, including an American Girl movie with Paramount, Polly Pocket with Amazon MGM Studios, as well as a live-action Magic 8 Ball series from M. Night Shyamalan.
“The journey for the company was to evolve from being a toy manufacturer that was making items to become an IP company that is managing franchises,” Kreiz said. “It’s not that we’re not creating toys — it’s obviously a big part of our business — but the opportunity is to expand so much more than the physical product.”
“Masters of the Universe” was in development for years at several different studios before it was picked up by Amazon MGM.
That partnership stemmed from Mattel’s work on the “Barbie” movie with Courtenay Valenti, then president of production and development at Warner Bros. Pictures who is now head of film at Amazon MGM.
“Masters of the Universe” felt like a good property for Mattel to bet on because of its nostalgia factor and deep bench of colorful characters, from the green tiger Battle Cat to the heavily armored Ram Man and ever meme-able Skeletor, which the company hopes will attract new audiences, Brenner said.
The movie is directed by Travis Knight — chief executive of stop-motion studio Laika who also led the 2018 “Transformers” spin-off “Bumblebee” — who Brenner said “nailed” the narrative’s tone. (It didn’t hurt that Knight was already a fan of the franchise and had sported the He-Man haircut as a child.)
“It’s a property that’s kind of out there,” said Brenner, who grew up watching He-Man and his twin sister She-Ra. “It’s got all these crazy characters. But just riding that line between what is funny and kind of irreverent and then kind of heartfelt, that is a very hard thing to put in a blender and to get right.”
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